Professor Udaya Meddegama's Survival Story

ISLE Professor Udaya Meddegama (Myth and Ritual), sent an email recounting his terrifying and strange experience. It's excerpted here.

I was coming from Kataragamapassing through Hambantota around 9:20 a.m., when the tsunami hit. Just in front of my car, I saw this big wave breaking through houses, throwing men and everything on its way into the streets and lagoon. First we were so shocked that we couldn't understand what was happening. However, I felt that it was something very serious and dangerous. So we turned back the vehicle at once hoping to go aback to Tissamaharama. But it was impossible, the town was already under water, most of it destroyed. But I managed to squeeze up a very narrow lane, just away from the main road and death. Then a very strange man, like some deity, got into our car at some point and guided us through all that chaos to a higher spot. Then he assured us that we would be ok there and went away saying that he had to attend to some others who were going to die.

While waiting there with the villagers, most of them had lost one or more family members, I learned that we had been taken probably to the only safe place in Hambantota. We stayed there for nearly three hours.

Some boys on a bike told us that it was now possible to escape and we drove down the main road for about 8 km, turned into the Suriyaweva road and came home via Ambilpitiya.

This is just a little bit of our ordeal. It is not possible to describe in words what we saw and how it all happened. There is no point in counting the dead. So many old people and mostly children died. As you all watch TV and use the Internet, you must be getting the latest news about the situation here, the death toll, rescue operations and foreign aid we are getting etc. Hope you all are OK. Best wishes for a very Happy New Year!

Sincerely,


Udaya Meddegama